Valencian Community

"Comunitat Valenciana" redirects here. For the former cycling team, see Kelme (cycling team).

This article is about the Region of Valencia (Spain). For other uses, see Valencia (disambiguation).

Valencian Community Comunidad Valenciana Template:Es icon Comunitat Valenciana Template:Vl icon
Autonomous Community
Flag Coat of arms
Map of the Valencian Community
Country	Spain
Capital	Valencia
Government
• President	Francisco Camps (PP)
Area (4.6% of Spain; Ranked 8th)
• Total	23,255 km2 (8,979 sq mi)
Population  (2008)
• Total	5,029,601
• Density	220/km2 (560/sq mi)
• Pop. rank	4th
• Percent	10.6% of Spain
Demonym
ISO 3166-2	VC
Official languages	Spanish and Valencian
Statute of Autonomy	1982 (amended April 10, 2006)
Parliament	Cortes Generales
Congress seats	33 (of 350)
Senate seats	17 (of 264)
Website	Generalitat Valenciana

The Valencian Community (Valencian: Comunitat Valenciana IPA: [komuniˈtat vaɫensiˈana], Spanish: Comunidad Valenciana, IPA: [komuniˈðað βalenˈθjana]) is an autonomous community of Spain located in central and south-eastern Iberian Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Valencia. The region is divided into three provinces: Alicante, Castellón and Valencia - and thirty four counties.

It has 518 km of Mediterranean coastline and covers 23,259 km² of land with 5.02 million inhabitants (2008). Its borders largely reflect those of the historic Kingdom of Valencia.

The current version of the Valencian Statute of Autonomy declares the Region of Valencia a nationality. The official languages are Spanish and Valencian (as Catalan is known in this territory). The region's capital is the city of Valencia.

Names

Main article: Names of the Valencian Community

The official name of the autonomous community, Comunitat Valenciana, has seen a variety of renditions in English, including "Valencian Community" , "Land of Valencia", "Region of Valencia" or, most commonly, simply "Valencia". The Spanish name, Comunidad Valenciana, was co-official under the first Statute of Autonomy of 1982. At the present moment, the Valencian Government translates the name as "Region of Valencia" and, sometimes, "Land of Valencia", as the Department of Tourism states in publications edited both in Spanish and English..

Although "Comunitat Valenciana", out of official consideration, is the most widely used name and the one that has become officially enshrined, there were two competing names at the time of the forging of the Valencian Statute of Autonomy. On the one hand País Valencià (Valencian) or País Valenciano (Spanish), was first reported in the 18th century, but its usage only became noticeable from the 1960s onwards, with a left-wing or Valencian nationalist subtext which began with the Spanish Transition to democracy in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It can be translated as "Valencian Country",, "Region of Valencia" . An example of this use is the so-called Consell pre-autonòmic del País Valencià, the forerunner of the modern Generalitat Valenciana in 1978, and it is also referred to in the preamble of the Statutes of Autonomy. This term is also referred to in the preamble to the Statutes of Autonomy..

In order to solve the gap between the two competing names –the traditional Regne de València and the contemporary País Valencià– a compromise neologism, Comunitat Valenciana, was created ("Comunitat" or "community" such as in Autonomous Community, which is the official name of the Spanish regions constituted as political autonomous entities).

In any case, the generic name of "Valencia" in English could refer to the City of Valencia, the Valencia province or the autonomous community .

Geography

Relief

The inland part of the territory is mountainous, with the highest peaks in the Valencia and Castellón provinces which form part of the Iberian Range. The mountains in the Alicante province are in turn a part of the Subbetic range. The Region of Valencia administers the tiny Columbretes islands and the coastal Tabarca islet.

The most emblematic mountain is the Penyagolosa, in the Alcalatén area. It is widely thought to be the highest peak with its 1,813 m., but actually the highest peak is the Calderón (1,839 m.) located in the Rincón de Ademuz, a Valencian exclave where there are three more peaks over 1,500 m. The most emblematic mountain in the southern part of the territory is the Aitana (1,558 m.).

The rather thin coastal strip is a very fertile plain mainly free of remarkable mountains except those around the Cabo de la Nao area and the Peñíscola area in the Castellón province. Typical of this coastal area are wetlands and marshlands such as L'Albufera close to Valencia, El Fondó in Elche, the Marjal near Pego or el Prat in Cabanes, also the former wetlands and salt evaporation ponds in the Santa Pola and Torrevieja area. All of them are key RAMSAR sites which make Valencia of high relevance for both migratory and resident seabirds and waterbirds.

There are many important coastal dunes in the Saler area near the Albufera and in the Guardamar area, both of them were planted with thousands of trees during the 19th century in order to fix the dunes, thus forming now protected areas of remarkable ecologic value.

Climate

Satellite picture of the Region of Valencia; the dry area in the South is easily noticed. Original by NASA

Valencia has a generally mild climate, heavily influenced by the neighbouring Mediterranean sea. Still, there are important differences between areas:

• Proper Mediterranean climate. It roughly goes along the coastal plain from the northernmost border through the Benidorm area (cities included here are, amongst others, Castelló de la Plana, Gandia and València). It covers in various grades the lower inland areas. In this area, winters are cool, summers are long, dry and hot; rainfall occurs mostly during spring and autumn, usually totaling around 600 mm. with a remarkably wetter micro climate in the Marina Alta and La Safor comarques just north of the Cabo la Nao cape, which accumulates an average of up to 1000 mm. due to the orographic lift phenomenon.
• Mediterranean to continental climate transition zone. These are the innermost lands and some of those closer to the sea but at a higher elevation (cities included here are, amongst others, Alcoi, Morella, Requena, Villena). Here winters are cool to cold (a few days of snow are not unusual), summers mild to hot and rainfall more evenly distributed through the year.
• Mediterranean to semiarid climate. It roughly goes along the coastal plain from Villajoyosa through the southernmost border of the region (cities included here are, amongst others, Alicante, Elche, Orihuela and Torrevieja). Summers are very long, hot to very hot and very dry, winters are cool to mild and its most prominent feature is a very scarce precipitation, typically below 300 mm. per year which is most likely to happen during spring and autumn. The reason for this lack of precipitation is the marked rain shadow effect caused by hills to the west of the Alicante province (and, to a lesser degree, those in the northern part of the province which, in turn, enhance the inverse orographic lift effect around Cabo de la Nao).

Hydrography

There are only two major rivers: the Segura in the Alicante province (whose source is in Andalusia) and the Júcar in the Valencia province (whose source is in Castile-La Mancha) both are subjected to very intense human regulation for cities, industries and -specially- agricultural consumption. The river Turia is the third largest and has its source in Aragón. Rivers in the area, such as the Vinalopó, are usually short, and have little current (due to agricultural usage, climatic reasons or both) and often completely dry during the summer.

History

Archeological site of Tossal de Manises, ancient Iberian-Carthaginian-Roman city of "Akra-Leuke" or "Lucentum".

Quart Towers, city of Valencia

Biar Castle

Castle of Santa Bárbara, Alicante.

The origins of present day Valencia date back to the former Kingdom of Valencia, which came into existence in the thirteenth century. James I of Aragon led Christian conquest and colonization of the existing Islamic taifas with Aragonese and Catalan people in 1208 and founded the Kingdom of Valencia as a third independent country within the Crown of Aragon in 1238.

In 1707, in the context the War of the Spanish Succession, and by means of the Nueva Planta decrees, king Philip V of Spain subordinated the Kingdom of Valencia, and the rest of the counties belonging to the former Crown of Aragon and which had retained some autonomy, to the structure of the Kingdom of Castile and its laws and customs. As a result of this, the institutions and laws created by the Furs of Valencia were abolished and the usage of the Valencian language in official instances and education was forbidden. Consequently, with the House of Bourbon, a new Kingdom of Spain was formed implementing a more centralized government than the former Habsburg Spain.

The first attempt to gain self-government for the Region of Valencia in modern-day Spain was during the 2nd Spanish Republic, in 1936, but the Civil War broke out and the autonomist project was suspended. In 1977, after Franco's dictatorship, Valencia started to be partially autonomous with the creation of the Consell Pre-autonòmic del País Valencià (Pre-autonomous Council of the Valencian Country), and in 1982 the self-government was finally extended into a Statute of Autonomy creating several self-government institutions under the Generalitat Valenciana.

The Valencian Statutes of Autonomy make clear that Valencia is intended to be the modern conception of self-government of the Valencian Country from the first autonomist movements (autogovern) during Second Spanish Republic, but also joining it to the traditional conception of Valencian identity, as being the successor to the historical Kingdom of Valencia (furs). In fact, after a bipartisan reform of the Valencian statute of autonomy in 2006, it records the foral civil law, using the traditional conception of a kingdom, and, on the other hand, it also recognizes Valencia as a nationality, in accordance with the modern conception.

Demographics

Further information: Valencian people

The Valencian population traditionally concentrated in localities with fertile cultivation and growing lowlands by the most important rivers (Júcar, Turia, Segura, Vinalopó), also in harbor cities important to the agricultural trade.

The most important population centers used to be, during the Roman times, Sagunt or Dénia; later on in history, Valencia, Alicante, Xàtiva, Orihuela, Elche, Gandia, or Vila-real and, more recently recently, Alzira and Castellón de la Plana.

The population density which is higher in the central and southern regions and minor in the northern and inner ones, is derived from the traditional distribution of people which originated in the orographic characteristics of the Valencian territory and the possibility to obtain irrigated land agriculture. Demographics were also affected by (being perhaps the exception to the mentioned distribution) the great industrial activity and the commerce of agriculturally derived products during the twentieth century of noncoastal cities like Alcoi, Elda, Ontinyent, Petrer, Villena, and La Vall d'Uixó.

In the last years, concentration in the great capitals and its metropolitan areas has augmented considerably (e.g. Torrent, Mislata, Paterna, Burjasot, San Vicente del Raspeig, etc.) especially in all the coastal cities and towns. Thus, traditionally small populations such as Benidorm or Torrevieja have undergone a considerable population increase (still more remarkable during summertime) due to the seasonal migration of tourists.

Therefore, Valencia's population is nowadays clearly urban and coastal, also influenced by seasonal tourism.

Nuclei with more than 50,000 habs. Valencian Community 4,692,449 hab. Town Valencia Alicante Elche Castellón de la Plana Torrevieja Orihuela Torrent Gandia Benidorm Sagunt Alcoi Elda Paterna Population 796,549 319,380 215,137 167,455 84,348 75,009 72,660 71,429 67,492 61,823 60,931 55,571 54,560

Source: Institut Valencià d'Estadística, 2005.

Economics

Valencia conforms an elongated territory, with a rather steep and irregular orography that has made communications and the exploitation of the soil historically difficult, despite the soil being particularly fertile in the coastal plain. This coastal axis has facilitated connections with Europe, either by sea through the Mediterranean, or by land through Catalonia.

The natural resources of the Valencian territory are small with regard to minerals other than the important marble quarrying industry in the Alicante province.

As for hydrological resources (see Geography above) there is a demand of water superior to the supply, making this imbalance especially serious in the Alicante province. In years when drought is particularly severe, the problem is mitigated if necessary, with occasional nocturnal restrictions during Summer and water-bearing subterraneans exploitation. This remains a source of harsh controversy over hydrological resources with neighbouring regions such as Castile-La Mancha and Catalonia.

Benidorm's skyline represents the paradigm of mass seasonal tourism in Spain

Due to the secondary and tertiary sectors boom by the times of the Spanish miracle during the 1960s, the agricultural sector has seen its relative importance reduced over time (not so the absolute figures), but it remains to be credited -under the form of citrus cultivation for the export market- for the first economic boom by the late 19th century after centuries of slow development, if not decay. Castellón and Valencia provinces still have thousands of hectares of citrus producing groves and it continues to be a major source of income on the countryside. In the Alicante province, citrus is also present but agriculture is more diversified with a higher presence of vegetables, especially in the Vega Baja del Segura area.

The high insulation rate and overall stable weather which during the Summer may pose a threat to water supplies either for agricultural or human consumption, conversely allow tourism to be the main economic industry with a very high density of residential housing along the coast occupied by locals, people from inland Spain and from other EU countries (mostly from Britain, Germany, Belgium and Norway) which seasonally boost population (and hydrological demands) in the summertime.

In 2002, the Region of Valencia generated 10.5% of the Spanish GDP. In human resources, the rate of unemployment was located around 10.5%, being greater among women, and the rate of activity reached 56.8% in 2002. The typical Valencian business is a small and medium company, mainly family-owned and operated, although there are some multinationals.

In addition to tourism, the Valencian economy is characterized by a marked exporting dimension, being the second exporting Spanish autonomous community, constituting 12% of the national total. The major exports are agricultural products, ceramic tiles, marble products and cars (Ford has an assembly line in Almussafes) among others, which make the port of Valencia the busiest in Spain.

In 2004, Valencia's GDP was 93.9% of the European Union average even though this figure may be affected positively by the important presence of foreign residents either from other regions of Europe or economic immigrants which are not properly represented in the official statistics. Growth rates after 2004 have been significant in overall Spain and additional progress from present figures is going on as of 2007.

Education

• Main article: Education in Spain

State Education in Spain is free and compulsory from six to sixteen years of age. The current education system is called LOGSE (Ley de Ordenación General del Sistema Educativo).

Levels

• From three to six years - (Preparatory School)
• From six to twelve years - (Primary School), years first through sixth
• From twelve to sixteen years - (Compulsory Secondary School), years first through fourth
• From sixteen to seventeen years - Bachillerato (Post-Compulsory School), years first and second

Children from three to five years old in Spain have the option of attending the infantil (popularly known as prescolar) or Pre-school stage, which is non-compulsory and free for all students. It is regarded as an integral part of the education system with infantil classes in almost every primary school. There are some separate nursery schools.

Spanish students aged six to sixteen undergo primary (Colegio) and secondary school (Instituto) education, which are compulsory and free of charge. Successful students are awarded a Secondary Education Certificate, which is necessary for entering further (optional) education as is Bachillerato for their University or Formacion Professional (vocational studies). Once students have finished their Bachillerato, they can take their University Entrance Exam (Pruebas de Acceso à la Universidad, popularly called Selectividad) which differs greatly from region to region.

The secondary stage of education is normally referred to by their initials, e.g. ESO or Educación Secundaria Obligatoria for secondary education.

Universities

The Region of Valencia is home to a number of prestigious universities like the University of Valencia, founded in 1499. At the request of James I of Aragon, Pope Innocent IV in 1246, authorized by a papal bull the establishment of estudis generals in Valencia. The University Statutes were passed by the municipal magistrates of Valencia on April 30, 1499; this is considered to be the 'founding' of the University. In 1501, Pope Alexander VI signed the bill of approval and one year later Ferdinand II of Aragon proclaimed the Royal Mandatory Concession. Only very meagre accounts have been preserved of the practical workings of the university. From the time of its foundation the courses included Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, philosophy, mathematics, and physics, theology, Canon law, and medicine.

Nowadays the Polytechnic University of Valencia has become one of the prestigious Universities in Spain, according to its technology, investigation, several degrees offering like Aerospace, Chemical, Industrial... and closed relations with the most important Universities in the world such as Cambridge, Oxford and Harvad.

Other universities are Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera in Valencia, Catholic University of Valencia,Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Jaume I University in Castellon and University of Alicante.

Languages

Main articles: Valencian, Spanish language, and Valencian Sign Language

Valencian and Spanish are the official languages of Valencia. Spanish is the official language of the Spanish state, while Valencian is the language considered by the Statute of Autonomy as llengua pròpia ("own language" or "language proper" to the territory). Valencian is traditionally spoken in the coastal areas rather than inland, where large areas have Spanish as their traditional language, also those areas incorporated into the provinces of Alicante and Valencia at their creation in 1833 and which did not form part of the historical Kingdom of Valencia. Consequently, the 1984 Law on the "Use and Teaching of Valencian" defines certain municipalities as "predominantly Spanish-speaking", and allows them some few optional exceptions as to official use of Valencian, even though the right to use and to receive education in Valencian is guaranteed by the Statute of Autonomy (Art. 6.2) anywhere in Valencia.

Knowledge of Valencian in
the Valencian Community

Can understand	76%
Can speak	53%
Can read	47%
Can write	25%
Source: Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua (2004). Enquesta sobre la situació del valencià.

Even in areas which formed part of the former Kingdom of Valencia, the knowledge and use of Valencian has diminished by language shift (especially relevant during the Francoist era) also influenced by immigration from other parts of Spain and the world. The knowledge of Valencian in those areas defined as "predominantly Valencian-speaking" by the Generalitat Valenciana (83% can understand, 58% can speak) is scarcely any higher than in Valencia as a whole (see table).

Valencian is regulated by the Valencian Academy of the Language (Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua, or AVL), created in 1998. The law that instituted the Academy, originally declared that Valencian was part of the linguistic system that the other Hispanic territories of the former Crown of Aragon—namely Catalonia and the Balearic Islands—recognize as their "own language" or "language proper" to their territories. Note, that, as of 1996, Valencian was considered a dialect of Catalan by most linguists. However, in a subsequent official statement, in 2005, the AVL stated that the language spoken in Valencia is the same language that is spoken in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, and that the different varieties constituted a "single language" which refers to the term "linguistic system" used in the previous law. The Institute of Catalan Studies (Institut d'Estudis Catalans, IEC), also considers Catalan and Valencian to be the same language. Even though phonetic differences are evident, written standard Valencian differs only slightly from written standard Central Catalan. There is also a Valencian Sign Language which has been granted a special protection from the Statute of Autonomy for those Valencian deaf persons.

Many Valencians, as well as the Valencian political parties, think that early Valencian literature preceded Catalan literature; they consider Catalan to be a product or early Valencian and a different language. Politically, it's feared that placing Valencian as a dialect of Catalan will put Valencia in a vulnerable position in front of Catalonia.

Aside from the purely philologic criteria, the traditional and usual term to name the language in Valencia is "Valencian". The widespread usage of this term by citizenry and all major parties does not necessarily deny nor endorse its Catalan linguistic filiation. Both Catalan and Valencian have slightly different standards, something which has produced some confusion as to whether they are both regarded as the same language or not. Thus, some Spanish government documents contain different versions for Catalonia and Valencia, then, in the 2005 referendum to approve the proposed European constitution the Spanish government at first distributed identical translations of the Constitutional Treaty in standard Catalan, the same for Catalonia and Valencia. This provoked a vocal reaction of the Valencian regional government demanding the translation to be in standard Valencian, once it was approved, then, in turn, the Catalan government, as a means to endorse philologic identity between Catalan and Valencian, assumed the Valencian standard and did not use the standard Catalan one in the leaflets used in Catalonia

In this regard, the main conservative party in Valencia, the ruling Popular Party, mostly does not address the question about the filiation of Catalan and Valencian, while, effectively, endorsing the Valencian standard which is most consistent with Catalan; in spite of this, it may be quite vocal in reacting and defending "Valencian translations" in occasions like the one of the European referendum mentioned above. Furthermore, the PP it includes a right-wing group sympathetic or absorbed from the Blaverism movement, which opposes considering these two as a single language.

Valencian was used mostly by peasants, and it wasn't used by middle and upper classes.

Politics

Institutions of government: the Generalitat

Palau dels Borja, seat of the Valencian Courts

In the process whereby democracy was restored in Spain between 1975–1978, the nationalist and regionalist parties pressed to grant home rule to certain territories in Spain. The constitution of 1978 opened a legal way for autonomous communities to be formed from provinces with common historical and cultural links. In recognition of the Region of Valencia as a historical nationality of Spain, and in accordance to the second article of the Spanish constitution which grants autonomy to the "nationalities and regions" that comprise the Spanish nation, Valencia was granted self-government and constituted itself as an autonomous community in 1982, with the promulgation of its first Statute of Autonomy, the basic organic law, later approved by the General Courts of Spain.

All autonomous communities were organized politically within a parliamentary system; that is, the executive branch of government. The "President" is dependent on the direct support of the legislative power, whose members elect him by majority.

A new Statute of Autonomy was promulgated in 2006. The government of Valencia (officially referred to only as Comunitat Valenciana, both in Spanish and Valencian) is represented by the Generalitat Valenciana (statutorily referred to simply as La Generalitat) constituted by three institutions:

• the Valencian Courts (Corts Valencianes), the legislature, which is to be integrated by a minimum of ninety-two representatives (diputats) elected through universal suffrage by proportional representation for a four-year period;

• the President of the Generalitat elected by the Courts from which s/he must obtain the vote of confidence; The current President is Francisco Camps.

• the Council of the Generalitat Valenciana (Consell), a collegiate institution with executive powers, integrated by the President him/herself and the cabinet members appointed by him/her.

The Generalitat can also be integrated by the institutions that the Valencian Courts create. The Courts have approved the creation of the Síndic de Greuges (the Ombudsman), the Sindicatura de Comptes (Public Audit Office), the Valencian Council of Culture, the Valencian Academy of the Language, the Juridic and Consultative Council and the Social and Economic Committee.

Valencian symbols

Valencian Coat of Arms over the entrance of the Torre de Serrans.

Valencian flag in 1:2 ratio hoisted at top of the Torre dels Serrans.

The official Valencian anthem is the Hymn of the Regional Exhibition of 1909, in whose composition the old hymn of the City of Valencia of the XVI century is included. The emblem of the Valencian Generalitat includes the seal of King Peter IV of Aragon, representative of the historical Kingdom of Valencia, whose shield is inclined towards the right, or, four bars Gules.

The official flag, also known as Senyera Coronada or Crowned Senyera is the same as Valencia's City flag, which, in turn, is a historical derivation of the Senyera, the heraldic symbol of the Crown of Aragon, also used today with few variations in all the former Kingdoms and Counties which were a part of this crown. There are also a number of Valencian private and civil entities such as trade unions, cultural associations, or political parties which simply use the Senyera as Valencian flag.

Other symbols are used at different levels by the Valencian society, like the heraldic animals of rat-penat (a bat) and drac alat (a winged dragon which was the emblem of James I), or the music of the Muixeranga, among others.

Transports

Euromed Trainset

Air

The Valencian Community is served by two international airports, Alicante Airport, which is mainly touristic oriented and the medium Valencia Airport which carries more business traffic.Nowadays, there is a new airport being built which will be located in the north of the Community, in Castellon. The construction is supposed to be ended in 2012, and the Valencian Community will be the first Community in Spain which have one airport for each province, because of the highest GPD growth that has experimented the Valencian Community in these years, being the third important Community, after Madrid and Catalonia.

Train

The Valencian Community has a quite extended rail system which connects the principal cities with the rest of the Country such as the Euromed towards Catalonia and Alaris towards Madrid, both run by the Spanish national rail company RENFE

The Valencian Community is expected to benefit in 2009 from fully dedicated lines for high speed trains when -what is called- "AVE's Eastern Corridor" will connect the city of Madrid with the Mediterranean Arc. This line will connect Madrid with Valencia, Alicante, Murcia and Almería.

Commuter rail and Metro

Cercanías-Rodalies Valencia is the commuter rail service that serves all three provinces of Valencia and its metropolitan areas. It is operated by Cercanías Renfe, the commuter rail division of RENFE. Another company, Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana operates a line between Alicante, Benidorm, and Denia. It also operates the city tram and metro system of Valencia (Valencia Metro) and Alicante (Alicante Tram).

Seaports

Main article: List of seaports of the Valencian Community

Gastronomy

Main article: Valencian cuisine

Valencian Paella

The Valencian gastronomy is of great variety, although their more international dishes are rice based, like the worldwide known Valencian paella. The rice is a basic ingredient in many of the typical dishes, like the "arròs (rice) a banda", the "arròs a la pedra", "arròs negre", "arròs amb costra", "arròs caldós", among many.

The Valencian Mediterranean climate favors the cultivation of citrus fruits and vegetables, with the cultivation of the orange being perhaps of highest importance as one of the typical fruits of Valencian agriculture.

Drinks

The horchata, whose traditional nucleus of elaboration is Alboraya, is a typical drink, accompanied with "fartons". Also traditional is the production of coffee liquor (typical of Alcoy), and mistela (in Marina Baixa and la Hoya de Buñol).

Desserts

Peladillas

The great majority of desserts typical of Valencia have their origin in Arabic times and play an important part in the local festive activities. Some are internationally famous. Xixona is the place of traditional manufacture of turrón (a soft nougat), consumed during Christmas in Spain and the rest of the Hispanic world. In Casinos the turrón is typical too but the most important manufacture of the village is Peladillas (Sugared almonds). In Xàtiva, the Arnadí, a dessert elaborated with pumpkin is made. And in Orihuela and its region the 'almojábenas.

Sports

Valencian pilota match

Football is the most widely known sport. There are teams in every town or village, two of which are currently playing in La Liga, Spain's premier league: Valencia CF and Villarreal CF. There are many big teams elsewhere, such as Levante UD, CD Alcoyano, CD Castellón, Elche CF or Hércules CF.

Professional Basketball is represented by one team, Valencia BC in the top league, the ACB. Also, Ros Casares Valencia is a female basketball team, which is the current champion of the Spanish Women's League and finalist of the Euroleague Women.

Motorcycle races are very popular, as the Circuit de Valencia race track and its hosted Valencian Community Grand Prix prove.

The autochthonous Valencian sport is the Valencian pilota, which features a professional Valencian Pilota Squad for international matches with related ball games all around the world. This sport has many variants, that may be played at the streets or at special courtfields like the trinquet.It may also be played by teams or on individual challenges. An amazing trait of this sport is that spectators may sit very close or even in the middle of the court. Even while the match is ongoing bookmakers take bets for reds or blues, since these are the colours players must wear, red being the colour of the strongest team or player. The Valencian pilota can be traced to the XV century, but it was abandoned during modern times, this decadence is being fought back with TV broadcasts, new built colleges have courtfields and a new professional players firm, ValNet.

Another relevant game is the pigeon sport, with an autochthonous dove race being trained, the gavatxut valencià.

Petanca and its variant Calitx are traditional sports as well, especially in towns or among elders.

Regarding female professional sports, Valencian Handball rules the Spanish Honor division league with more than half of the teams, such as Astroc Sagunt, Orsan Elda Prestigio and Cementos La Union Ribaroja.

Provinces

Tomatina

Fallas

Bonfires of Saint John

Traditionally the land is divided into comarques, and in 1833 was, along with the rest of Spain, divided into provinces according to a decree from minister Javier de Burgos. There are 32 comarques, and three provinces: Castellón/Castelló, Valencia/València, and Alicante/Alacant (names in Spanish/Valencian).

Here is a list of some of the largest cities.

• València (Spanish Valencia), population 796,549, capital of the province of the same name, on the river Turia. Famous festival of the Fallas on March 19.
• Alicante (Valencian Alacant), population 319,380, capital of the province of the same name, in the Mediterranean coast. Famous for its hard nougat or turrón duro (Valencian torró dur) and Postiguet, Albufereta and San Joan Beaches. The famous festival of the Bonfires of Saint John is in June. Its city hall and the Santa Barbara Castle are historic monuments.
• Elche (Valencian Elx), population 215,137, famous for the wood of the palm tree called Palmeral, and for the Misteri d'Elx, two-day festival of singing and street drama that acts out the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, declared by UNESCO as part of all humankind's oral heritage.
• Castelló de la Plana (Spanish Castellón de la Plana), population 167,455, capital of the province of Castellón.
• Torrevieja, population 84,348, in the south, important tourist center with many hotels, apartments and tourist accommodations; includes La Mata Beach.
• Gandia (Spanish Gandía), population 77,943, is another important tourist center, situated on the Costa del Azahar.
• Orihuela, population 75,009, on the Segura River, historic city with palaces, churches and the Cathedral, on the "Vega Baja", a highly productive area for farm products such as oranges, lemons and the like.
• Benidorm, population 67,492, a major holiday resort, dubbed Beniyork because of its many skyscrapers, including Spain's tallest, the 52-story Gran Hotel Bali.
• Alcoi (Spanish Alcoy), population 60,590, an important industrial area for textile products, with characteristical XIXth century modernist buildings and with the most well known Moors and Christians festivities.
• Elda, population 55,571, important production center for shoes and wine in the Vinalopo area.
• Villena, population 34.000, important production of shoes and wine, with many historical and monumental visits. Also, fiestas of "Moros y Cristianos", one of the most important in the Community
• Vila-real (Spanish Villarreal), population 46,696, important producer of ceramics and brick.

See also

• List of Valencians
• Nationalities in Spain
• List of seaports of the Valencian Community

External links

• Language Valencian Academy
• Official tourism webpage
• Template:Wikitravel
• Valencia in the Great Catalan Encyclopedia
• subway metropolitan area